http://www.jewishworldreview.com --
DOES G-d want us to turn off our air conditioners in mid-July and make burnt offerings of
SUVs? Amen, say eco-clerics, who are transforming the Bible into an environmental handbook.

It's the Church (Synagogue) of What's Happening Now reads the Gospel of Al Gore.

"Human beings are not given rapacious free will to do what they want in creation but to give
good stewardship," thunders Rabbi Lawrence Troster of the Coalition on the Environment and
Jewish Life.

The group cites Leviticus 19:9 ("When you reap the harvest of your land, you shall not reap
all the way to the edges of your field") as if this were a call for soil conservation. As the
rest of the verse elucidates, the prohibition is so "the poor and the stranger" will have
sustenance. Charity, not ecology, is the mandate here.

There is a requirement that the land lie fallow the seventh year. But that's not the verse the
coalition quotes, demonstrating appalling scholarship from the religious scholars.

Enviro-Protestants are no better versed. The Evangelical Environmental Network cites Hosea
("The land mourns, and all who live in it waste away") to make its point. Again, this verse has
nothing to do with stewardship. It describes the consequences of Israel's sins, such as
following false gods. Earth Day clerics have idols of their own.

Mainline divines are suckers for movements du jour. One day it's feminism, the next same-sex
marriage. Terrified of not being relevant, they scour Scriptures for verses that can be twisted
to justify political orthodoxy.

The Bible begins with G-d creating the world and giving man (His highest creation) dominion
over it -- not to despoil, but to utilize with a sense of reverence for His handiwork. This
contradicts environmentalism, which sees man as just one more feature of the natural world,
whose needs don't outweigh the welfare of redwoods and snail darters.

Other clerics, who generally aren't quoted by AP, offer more enlightenment. The free-market
Acton Institute, headed by Father Robert Sirico, has published a tract titled, "Environmental
Stewardship in the Judeo-Christian Tradition."

The Jewish contributors comment: "The basic Jewish principle of balance and middle path also
conflicts with the contemporary environmental doctrine that preserving each spotted owl and
kangroo rat is more important than any costs borne by humans."

One of the writers, Rabbi Daniel Lapin, president of Toward Tradition, owns two SUVs. (Well,
he has seven children.) "Suppose we all switch from SUVs to Corollas, then what?" Lapin asks.
"What happens to the fuel and steel saved?" How do we know someone else will put it to better
use? Absent more energy development, which green clerics abhor, how will conservation get us
past the current crunch?

The rabbi notes that as well as mandating rest on the seventh day, the Torah commands
productivity on the other six. Why is it clerical tree-huggers never say: "The Bible requires
us to produce to meet human needs. So let's drill for oil in Alaska and build more nuclear
power plants"?

The Catholic contributors to the Acton book observe that the use of fossil fuels have
benefited both humanity and the environment. They're far less inefficient, polluting and
destructive than burning wood, the primary power source for most of history. Turned into
fertilizers, they've led to an explosion of agricultural production.

Admittedly, such a perspective is homo-centric -- so is the Bible. Genesis commands
reproduction. ("Be fruitful and multiply and replenish the Earth.")

But environmentalists believe overpopulation (who's to say what that is?) is destroying the
Earth. People become the ultimate pollution.

Thus it comes as no surprise that the foes of SUVs and power plants support abortion rights
and population control. Both are anathema to Judeo-Christian tradition.

For their next joint venture, perhaps enviro-clerics could find a gang of Canaanites and
followers of Baal to hang with. It makes as much sense as organizing an ecumenical cheering
squad for the Sierra
Club.

JWR contributing columnist Don Feder's latest books are Who is afraid of the Religious Right? ($15.95) and A Jewish conservative looks at pagan America ($9.95). To receive an autographed copy, send a check or money order to: Don Feder, The Boston Herald, 1 Herald Sq., Boston, Mass. 02106. Doing so will help fund JWR, if so noted. He is also available as a guest speaker. To comment on this column please click here.